Pixion Enters Hosted Web Conferencing Market With Industry’s First Service That Eliminates Bandwidth Constraints
PictureTalk Hosted Service Focuses On Performance And Ease-Of-Use For Windows, Macintosh, And Solaris
BOSTON, Mass. – June 25, 2002 – Designed to shatter the performance and usability barriers that have limited the growth of the Web conferencing marketplace, Pixion, Inc., today announced the availability of PictureTalk™ Hosted Services, a performance-oriented, cross-platform interactive meeting solution based on the company’s Client-Server-Client™ (CSC)
Web conferencing architecture. With the introduction
of PictureTalk Hosted Services, Pixion is the only provider of both
enterprise software
and service-based Web conferencing solutions
to enable all types of meetings for large and small businesses.
Pixion’s PictureTalk Hosted Services delivers secure Web conferencing without the bandwidth constraints of the peer-to-peer networking technology employed by most other Web conferencing service providers. Pixion’s CSC architecture eliminates network bottlenecks that drag the performance of peer-to-peer Web meetings down to that of the single slowest participant’s Internet connection. And, unlike many competitive offerings, PictureTalk Hosted Services avoids “feature-creep” – the tendency of service providers to integrate myriad, often complex features that provide marginal user benefit to most of their users. PictureTalk Hosted Services is designed to meet the vast majority of Web conferencing user’s
needs simply, easily and cost-effectively.
“Web conferencing is on the verge of becoming a mainstream business application,” said Robert DeKoning, Pixion’s president and CEO. “We expanded our product offerings with PictureTalk Hosted Services to meet customer’s requirements where other hosted Web conferencing services have failed. Our approach was to zero in on those features that businesses really need – a
Web conferencing service that offers the
ideal combination of performance, functionality, security and convenience. ”
“Reduced travel budgets and an increasingly mobile workforce are driving demand for business conferencing applications,” according to Robert Mahowald, senior analyst, IDC. "PictureTalk
Hosted Services are designed to help businesses
consolidate their users on one easy-to-use, hosted conferencing service
with integrated
data and voice communications, in a bandwidth-independent
environment. "
Pixion Client-Server-Client™ Architecture
At the heart of PictureTalk Hosted Services is
Pixion ’s Client-Server-Client (CSC) architecture. Pixion’s CSC architecture senses varying network transmission speeds, enabling the system to automatically allocate resources as needed. In addition, the architecture is aware of the presenters’ and attendees’ individual
platforms and viewing requirements, allowing the system to automatically
prioritize and allocate the flow of data, maximizing bandwidth and
ensuring that interactive meetings provide the best possible user
experience. The CSC architecture also enables seamless integration
with existing firewall technology, full data encryption, bandwidth
independence and multiple layers of password protection to protect
sensitive data.
PictureTalk Hosted Services Advantages
Pixion market research identified four key frustrations
experienced by many hosted Web conferencing service users: the inability
to accurately predict the cost of Web conferencing; difficulty in
controlling the presenter/attendee meeting experience; lack of online
audio/teleconferencing integration; and a lack of flexibility in
running Web conferencing solutions over cross-platform environments.
PictureTalk Hosted Services ’ features are designed specifically
to address these requirements.
- Seat Usage Monitor™ – A
PictureTalk Hosted Services seat license
is specified at the onset of service and users pay a flat usage
fee unless there is an addition
made to the seat license. This feature
allows users to track usage of service on a real-time basis. Customers
have instant access to
the number of seats currently being used
by the entire organization and are automatically notified once the
seat limit is reached, enabling
them to track costs and/or add additional
seats more efficiently.
- Capture Frame® – Pixion’s
unique Capture Frame presentation tool
provides unparalleled ease-of-use and control. With Capture Frame,
meeting presenters can capture information
in real-time right from their desktop,
and easily share and collaborate over the Internet with an unlimited
number of attendees.
- Web-based Teleconferencing – PictureTalk
Hosted Services features integrated Web-based
audio conferencing provided by InterCall. Starting or joining an
audio conference is as simple
as pointing and clicking your mouse. Traditional
teleconferencing is also available.
- Native Cross-Platform – Pixion offers native clients for Windows®, Solaris™ and Macintosh®, including Windows XP and Mac OS X. This enables full sharing and interactivity for all participants, regardless of their operating system, without the firewall constraints of Java® technologies.
In addition, PictureTalk Hosted
Services provides users with the most used
Web conferencing features including: real-time document, presentation
and file attachment sharing;
application and desktop sharing; centralized
calendaring; follow-me browsing; polling and quizzing; chat and VoIP
record and playback;
meeting lock-out; and customized reporting.
Pixion’s Hosted
Services solution also features a new customizable
interface design and top bar navigation workflow, providing an optimal
meeting experience.
Additionally, users have access to unlimited
attendance for increased meeting capacity and flexibility.
World Class IP Infrastructure
PixtureTalk is hosted at Digex SmartCentersSM
and runs over the award-winning WorldCom global IP network. Digex
SmartCenters are state-of-the-art facilities designed for Web server
farms. Their design includes redundant power and cooling systems
in addition to world-class hardware with advanced security tools
and fast redundant networks. Combined with PictureTalk Hosted Services’ inherent
security features, the Digex/WorldCom backbone provides unparalleled
security, capacity and efficiency, ensuring that meetings run on
time, every time, seamlessly without latency or bandwidth bog downs
typically associated with real-time Web conferencing.
Pricing and Availability
PictureTalk Hosted Services is available beginning
at $120 per connection/per month. Individual meeting or large event
pricing using Pixion’s WebSeminar™ is available directly
from Pixion. Please visit www.pixion.com or call (925) 467-5300 for more information.
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